THE 10 TOP INDIE SONGS IN THE WORLD THIS WEEK

Photo by Rex Orange County

Forget "BREAK MY SOUL" or "Running up That Hill." Ladies and gentlemen, the Song of the Summer™ has officially arrived:

GOD BLESS TIKTOK!

Check out the latest edition of We Are: The Guard's Top Indie Songs, featuring Rex Orange County, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, serpentwithfeet & Moby, and more!

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REX ORANGE COUNTY – THREAT

It's only been a few months since he unveiled his fourth album, WHO CARES?, but Rex Orange County's Alexander James O'Connor is already making his return today with the joyous "THREAT." "This song was really made for August time, when it's hot outside," writes Rex Orange County on Twitter. "Go be outside, blast this, in the car, roll your windows down, blast this." An ode to those big, scary emotions felt in the early days of a relationship, "THREAT" is a glorious addition to every end-of-summer mixtape.

YEAH YEAH YEAHS – BURNING

Back in June, Yeah Yeah Yeahs shared their first single in nine years, the Perfume Genius collaboration "Spitting off the Edge of the World." Fast forward a few weeks, and the New York City indie legends are arriving this Monday with "Burning." Produced by Andrew Wyatt, it's a sizzlingly Stax-esque banger that draws direct inspiration from "Beggin'" by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. Karen O: "We've cut a rug to many a soulful sixties bangers in our day; it was in our DNA by the time we wrote 'Burning.'"

SERPENTWITHFEET & MOBY – ON AIR

Moby and serpentwithfeet? This is everything. Coming to us via the former's label, always centered at night, "on air" is an airy, intangibly beautiful ballad that takes place the morning after an argument. "7 a.m. and the sun is hidden," sings serpentwithfeet. "I see tears in your eyes but the love is missing." Moby: "One of the greatest things about always centered at night is working with remarkable singers. serpentwithfeet has an approach to music and vocals that I find to be fascinating and beautiful."

ALTOPALO (FEAT. BARTEES STRANGE) – LOVE THAT 4 U

Ahead of the release of their third album, frenemy, New York City's altopalo is sharing the intoxicating "love that 4 u." Featuring Bartees Strange, "love that 4 u" is a refreshingly frank exploration of the resentment and bitterness that can rise up between band members. "Every line in the song is a feeling one of us has had to the other and are all very honest feelings that we have talked about internally," adds Dillon Treacy, with altopalo capturing their simmering tensions through a heady baroque-pop lens.

ALVVAYS – EASY ON YOUR OWN?

Last month, Canada's Alvvays unveiled their first song in five years, "Pharmacist," and this August, Molly Rankin and company are making their return with the crunchy, soaring "Easy on Your Own?" The latest single to be taken from their forthcoming third album, Blue Rev, "Easy on Your Own?" once again hears Molly going in search of relief and catharsis, with her gliding voice coming offset by a fuzzy shoegaze blowout: "If you don't like it/Say it's over/Weekends alone/Does it get easier on your own?"

SUSANNAH JOFFE – IN YOUR ROOM

Having experienced her fair share of heartache on The Punch EP, Austin's Susannah Joffe is focusing on a different kind of love on "In Your Room." A tribute to her three best friends, "In Your Room" is a surging grunge anthem that celebrates the power of women supporting women. "The chorus is about a specific night that I shared with them that was the peak of my depression, my substance abuse, and was just a really dark time in my life," reveals Susannah of the cut, which ascends to the light after the first verse.

SYLVAN ESSO – ECHO PARTY

We've already heard "Sunburn," "Your Reality," and "Didn't Care," and this August, Sylvan Esso is offering up one more single from their fourth album, No Rules Sandy. Coming alongside a video directed by Lindsey Nico Mann, "Echo Party" is perhaps the ultimate distillation of Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn's primal, minimalistic dance instincts, with the final result making for an elemental banger: "It's an echo party ringing all around/Yeah, you can't play it down/But you want it to feel right now."

MEHRO – PRETTY KIDS

While he's no stranger to We Are: The Guard's chill column, winning us over with his Elliott Smith and Sufjan Stevens-esque folky offerings, mehro is pivoting into a more infectious, danceable indie arena with "pretty kids." Built on a groovy bassline that sounds similar to Portugal. The Man's "Feel It Still," "pretty kids'' is an addictive bop about being an outsider in a world of fakes and phonies: "Seen the shadows dancing/In the amber glow/Just outside of nowhere/It's whеre the pretty kids go."

LITTLE DRAGON – FRISCO

Little Dragon is incoming this fall with Opening the Door EP, but before then, the Swedish electronic act is sharing "Frisco." According to Little Dragon, "Frisco" is all about "renewal, letting out your full potential, and moving with the wave of change and life." "Longing for ya, fading/(In my mind)/Longing, wanting, fading/(In my mind)/Greedy, grasping, chasing/(Out my mind)," sings Yukimi Nagano in the sultry bounce of a chorus, with the Little Dragon frontwoman channeling some serious Janet Jackson.

RAT TALLY (FEAT. JAY SOM) – WHITE GIRLS

Following on from the announcement she's signed 6131 Records, Rat Tally's Addy Harris is finally unveiling her debut album, In My Car. "I wrote these songs about my life and the people in them and my experiences, and I hope you can find yourself in them somewhere. They were recorded by me and my friends all over the country, and I'm so proud of what we made together," says Addy of In My Car, with a highlight coming in the form of "White Girls," a sighing grunge chug about unrequited love featuring Jay Som.

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Jess Grant is a frustrated writer hailing from London, England. When she isn't tasked with disentangling her thoughts from her brain and putting them on paper, Jess can generally be found listening to The Beatles, or cooking vegetarian food.